Area Football Notes: Harres says Pretzels must keep eye on ball

Thursday

Oct 28, 2010 at 12:01 AMOct 28, 2010 at 9:59 AM

New Berlin High School coach Jeff Harres remembers driving to Carthage a few years ago to watch Virginia take on the team then known as the Carthage Blueboys in a first-round playoff game won by the home team 66-6. That Hancock County juggernaut now is known as the Carthage Illini West Chargers. But Harres’ concern is the same. To have a chance against the Chargers, you have to find the football. And that’s not easy to do against a finely tuned attack that pulls the trigger with fake handoffs and perfect execution.

Dave Kane

New Berlin High School coach Jeff Harres remembers driving to Carthage a few years ago to watch Virginia take on the team then known as the Carthage Blueboys in a first-round playoff game won by the home team 66-6.

That Hancock County juggernaut now is known as the Carthage Illini West Chargers. But Harres’ concern is the same. To have a chance against the Chargers, you have to find the football. And that’s not easy to do against a finely tuned attack that pulls the trigger with fake handoffs and perfect execution.

“That game I went to, I think Carthage was up 32-0 through one quarter and I didn’t see the ball one time,” said Harres, whose underdog Pretzels (5-4) will travel to unbeaten, top-ranked Illini West at 7 p.m. Friday in a first-round Class 3A playoff game.

“We wanted to play Friday night instead of Saturday; I think our kids do better with the regular school-day routine. The one downside to playing them at night is they fake so well. You really have to focus on the ball. They make changes from year to year, but it’s still basically the same offense.”

Harres said this scenario reminds him of two years ago when his team played at unbeaten, top-ranked Columbia in the first round of 3A. The Pretzels played the Eagles to a 14-all tie through one half before Columbia pulled away to win 47-14.

Illini West quarterback Zane Schmudlach has thrown for 660 yards and eight touchdowns, but the Chargers have three rushers who’ve gained anywhere from 617 to 898 yards. That includes Ser Whitaker, whose 35-yard touchdown run in the final minute lifted Illini West to a 22-20 win over Class 4A Quincy Notre Dame in Week Six.

“We have a realistic attitude; we also know there’s no pressure on us,” Harres said. “Nobody’s giving us much of a chance, so we can be loose. I like the attitude I’ve seen from our kids so far.”

Tuscola could be WIVC roadblock again

The enrollment numbers say that the Tuscola Warriors represent the 11th-largest school among the 32 in the Class 1A playoffs that begin this weekend.

But when the Carrollton Hawks visit the defending Class 1A state champions for a first-round game at 5 p.m. Saturday, they’ll face a team tested mostly by Class 2A and 3A teams in the rugged Okaw Valley Conference. And Tuscola has just one loss: a 39-17 defeat against state-ranked Class 2A Maroa-Forsyth three weeks ago.

It dropped Tuscola from No. 1 to No. 2 — behind unbeaten Mount Sterling Brown County — in The Associated Press Class 1A state poll. But maybe the pollsters didn’t consider the caliber of Tuscola’s competition.

“Our conference competition, it will prepare you or it could kill you,” third-year coach Rick Reinhart said. “If you’re a smaller school, will you have everybody there by playoff time? There’s the injury factor to consider.

“But the competition that everyone plays over here, it’s amazing. Everyone you play has a good program, a good coach and good athletes. You find out what you do and don’t have every week.”

Carrollton lost to Tuscola two straight years in the playoffs — 2006 and 2007 — by a combined 94-8. WIVC teams are 1-6 against the Warriors since 2006; the lone win was Triopia’s 22-21 come-from-behind quarterfinal victory in 2007. The Trojans went on to take the state title.

Auburn loses Becker

Auburn coach Dave Bates’ fears about senior receiver Eric Becker were confirmed early this week. Becker, one of the Trojans’ better pass-catchers beyond their big three of Forrest Brake, Tavelle Hammer and Austin Muench, is out for the playoffs because of a knee injury suffered in Friday’s win over Pawnee.

Bates said that Becker suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament, and there may have been additional damage to the same knee.

“He won’t play anymore this year,” Bates said of the 6-foot-2, 190-pound Becker. “It’s too bad, especially with this being his senior year.”

What’s the big deal?

Athens coach Ryan Knox was an assistant to Joey Dion two years ago when the Warriors made the playoffs for the first time. They beat another first-time playoff team, nearby Pleasant Plains, before losing to Macon Meridian in Round Two.

Knox said the feeling’s a little different this go-round as Athens prepares to play at Auburn in a first-round Class 2A contest Friday night. But he said some of his players were pretty excited when they learned they’d get another shot at Auburn, which won 47-22 at Athens in Week Six.

A little too excited, as far as quarterback Brandon Vice was concerned.

“We were talking about the playoffs and some of the kids were hooting and hollering,” Knox said. “But it’s a little different from two years ago. I think Brandon put it best. He told those guys, ‘Hey, act like you’ve been there before!’”

Dave Kane can be reached at 788-1544.

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